Thank you so much for your lovely reviews! Please let me know what you think of this chapter as well :)
Thanks to Mike for beta!
Between work, dress shopping, two kids and flower picking, the rehearsal dinner came too fast. Alicia was taking care of dinner details so that Laura and Will could give their full attention to their guests. With their whole families there in one room, they had their hands full enough to be worried about anything else. She was on her way to ask the sound guy to lower the volume when she spotted Owen in the crowd.
"Owen, what are you doing here?" She demanded in her big-sister tone.
"Hey, sis. Glad to see you, too. Will invited me." He had a smirk on his face, probably enjoying the fact that he had surprised her. It had never occurred to her that Will and her brother had gotten along so well. It was a first that Owen had liked one of her boyfriends. Well, too late for that.
"Why haven't you told me? We could have come together."
"And miss that look on your face?" He pointed towards her, "Never." He chuckled as she shoved his arm.
"Come with me. I have to talk to the sound guy." She said grabbing her brother by the arm and pulling him away.
"Wait, what? Why are you going to talk to the sound guy?" Ha, who was surprised now?
"Because I'm the maid-of-honor and that's part of my job." Alicia answered nonchalantly as if it wasn't a big deal. Owen stopped on in his tracks, mouth slightly agape, staring at her. Who had that look on their face now?
"What? You're Will's maid-of-honor? How did that happen?" Owen fired.
"Technically, I'm Laura's maid-of-honor. She asked me." She continued putting her façade up.
"You know what I meant. The maid-of-honor at Will's wedding. "He said with an eye roll. "And you said yes? Why? How are you handling it? Are you okay?" She wanted to tell him to butt off and leave her alone for once, but seeing the genuine concern in his eyes, she couldn't. He wasn't intruding; he was worried about her well being. That's why she just lowered her voice and said as she saw Elsbeth Tascioni approaching, the sound guy long forgotten, "Not now, Owen. I don't have the time, nor is this the place."
"Alicia! We're finally meeting under a pleasant circumstance. It's so good to see you. Wow, dear, this is a gorgeous dress!"
"You too, Elsbeth." She noticed the lawyer looking at her brother. "Oh, I'm sorry. This is my brother Owen. Owen, this is Elsbeth Tascioni, she's…" How could she introduce her? As the lawyer who got Peter out? Helped her? Saved Will? Eli? "She's a friend. And a lifesaver." She added with a smile.
"Oh, so this is the famous Mrs. Tascioni. I've heard great things about you." Owen and Elsbeth shook hands.
"Thank you, thank you, you're both too kind. Your sister is a rescuer herself. Wait, where did I leave my champagne glass? Excuse me." Off she went. "I was talking to Diane, no I still had my glass then and after that I talked to Will…" They could hear as she trailed away talking to herself trying to retrace her steps.
Alicia then felt a hand on her forearm. She turned around and saw Laura.
"Alicia, could you please ask the DJ to lower the volume?" Crap, she had forgotten all about it! "It's a little loud and people are complaining." She asked with a smile. "Actually, my father is complaining." She added with annoyance. "I'm sorry, I would do it myself, but my mother is insisting on family pictures." Laura had a stressed looked on her face, like she needed rescuing.
"Sure, I'll do it right now. Don't worry about it." Alicia put her at ease.
"Thanks, Alicia, you're a lifesaver."
Laura was about to leave when Owen intervened "Ah, so this is the bride-to-be. Congratulations! Will is a great guy."
"Laura, this is my brother Owen."
"Nice to meet you and thanks. You're also a friend of Will's, right?" The former military took Owen's hand and shook it.
"Well, we met through Alicia, but we do get along well." He said smiling.
"I'm so sorry, I have to go. My mom…it was really nice meeting you. And thank you, Alicia." Laura took off in the direction of a big group, who Alicia had been introduced to as Laura's family.
Before Owen could say anything about Laura or the whole situation now that they were alone, as Alicia knew he would, she said, "I have to talk to the sound guy. You stay here and wait for me."
"God, you treat me like a kid. I know you don't want to acknowledge it so you don't feel old, but I have grown up, Alicia." He said in a patronizing tone.
"Have you?" Alicia burst out laughing, leaving him alone.
On her way back from the DJ table, Alicia found Kalinda. She had her hair down, a dress and stilettos on.
"Wow, almost didn't recognize you without the leather boots." Alicia teased. Kalinda tilted her head a bit to the side, her version of an eye roll.
"Didn't think they would be appropriate for the occasion." She said with a light smile.
"Have you seen Owen? He was supposed to wait for me here."
"And you thought he would obey?" The investigator asked in a mocking tone.
"I guess I'm an optimist." Alicia answered with a shrug. "And very naïve, apparently. Sorry, I have to look for him before he does any damage."
Alicia was already leaving when Kalinda held her by the arm "Try to relax, Alicia." The lawyer was about to argue when she added, "Have a glass of wine at least."
Alicia started to look for Owen and found him talking to Will. They were laughing and that sight made Alicia happy. She had always known they would like each other and had wanted to introduce them since Georgetown, but different circumstances had prevented it from happening. When her brother saw her approaching them, he said "Hey, just who we were talking about!"
At her worried look, Will added, "Don't worry, I was telling Owen how you were the one that organized all this. Thank you so much, Alicia." He squeezed her forearm lightly, a gesture that she was sure didn't go unnoticed by Owen.
"Just one of the duties of the maid-of-honor." She answered with a shrug.
"Oh no, this is –" He was interrupted by a loud shout 'Willie!' coming from behind him. He had barely time to mutter an 'Oh God' under his breath before the two women jumped him. They were hugging him and saying how proud they were that he was finally getting married, that they had thought it would never happen, while Alicia and Owen eyed each other.
When they finally let go of him, Will made the introductions: "This is Alicia, she went to law school with me and is now a partner at the firm, and her brother Owen. These are my sisters, Aubrey and Sara."
"Ah, so this is the famous Alicia." Sara said shaking Alicia's hand.
"We've heard a lot about you." Aubrey added shaking her hand as well. Alicia felt her cheeks burning up and was sure she was blushing. Her little relief was seeing Will's cheeks turn a shade of pink and him looking down at his feet like he was looking for a hole in the floor he could disappear in.
"Okay, okay, that's enough." Will said. Alicia saw with a side glance that Owen was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Where is that fiancé of yours?" Aubrey asked looking around the salon.
"Yes, William. I am truly disappointed that we haven't met Laura, yet." Sara said with authority. It had been years since Alicia had heard someone call him William. "And a little surprised, too, we thought you were serious about Kalinda." Hearing that, Alicia looked straight at Will with raised eyebrows. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"That's right. What happened to her? What did you do, Will?" Aubrey sounded disappointed. Alicia saw that her own brother was about to say something, so she pinched him discretely on the arm. It got her a mouthed 'ouch' from him. It did the trick though, and he remained quiet.
"Nothing." Will said with a sigh, clearly annoyed "I never dated Kalinda. She works for me and is a friend, that's all. How many times do I have to explain that to you? Let's go, you're boring Owen and Alicia." To them, he added, "Excuse us."
"Nice meeting you." The sisters said over their shoulder as Will dragged them away.
"But you had your sweet voice when you were talking to her on the phone, I told you that." Aubrey argued facing her brother again as they were distancing themselves from Owen and Alicia.
Alicia couldn't prevent a small smile from forming on her lips. She remembered overhearing Aubrey saying that. Of course, at the time she didn't know it was Aubrey. God, it had been so long ago.
"I bet you're really happy right now that I'm your only sibling." Owen whispered in her ear, taking her away from her thoughts.
Alicia had to laugh at that, "Definitely, I couldn't handle another you."
